


A Tale of Wo(nder)e

by CreateTheWorld



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Discrimination, Emotional, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Homework, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Magic, Muggles, Multi, NSFW probably I mean in the beginning they're kids but, OCs - Freeform, Panic Attacks, Probably a happy ending, Rape/Non-con - Freeform, School, Social Anxiety, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Underage - Freeform, i'm not one of the characters, possible threesome?, title is a work in progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 11:58:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13704012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreateTheWorld/pseuds/CreateTheWorld
Summary: Jeremiah L'ezare always admired Hogwarts from a distance. When his letter came to attend the school, he was prepared for it. He read his textbooks in advance. He and his best friend prepared themselves for the adventure they were about to go on. Little did they know just how fast things would spiral out of control.





	A Tale of Wo(nder)e

**Author's Note:**

> THESE CHAPTERS ARE BEING EDITED CONSTANTLY. THINGS WILL PROBABLY CHANGE THROUGHOUT. BEAR WITH ME. Thank you! I hope you enjoy, please leave a comment or something to let me know if you enjoyed it. <3

There’s something unsettling about the way this whole Hogwarts Express thing works, at least in my mind. How could a place like this exist? It was strange. I didn’t like strange things. I’d been raised in a family of wizards, so I’d heard all the tales of Kings Cross, of platform nine and three quarters, I’d learned all the facts that I could to make sure I didn’t get lost, despite having my parents to accompany me. I was unsettled by how normal every wizard found this, sending their children to run into a brick wall in full view of the muggles all around. That was not normal. 

I liked actually normal things. Muggle things, as my family liked to tease me. Books that I turned pages of myself, toys that were meant for muggle kids, things like that. Certainly I didn’t like running through brick walls uncertain if I would even be able to pass. I would make of fool of myself for sure. 

My parents went through first, just to show me that it would work. I gripped tighter to my cart of luggage and closed my eyes. That was the only way I could do this. To clench my eyes shut, hard as I could, and leave it all up to chance. 

I checked to make sure it was the right wall three or four more times before I actually approached. Maybe I should’ve asked my mom to stay with me…

No, I could totally do this! I take in a deep, heavy breath, eyes on the wall. I exhale through my nose, close my eyes, and take off running. 

Oh god. Oh god! 

The cart and I pass through easily. On the other side, my parents are cheering and laughing. God...I huff and go bright red, pouting a little bit at them. 

Oh well. No more embarrassing situations, right? We wheel my stuff over to where everyone else was, to be loaded on. I grab my carry on bag, before glancing to the doors. I didn’t even want to try and find my friends in the crowd, there were so many kids, all dressed in strange outfits with strange people, that I felt like it all might just pause and turn into one of those search puzzles in muggle newspapers. Can you spot the short girl in the crowd of people all heading to the same place?

Maybe some of my anxiety was showing through. Ever since me and my best friend Sam had gotten our letters, it had been a whirlwind of preparations. My parents had immediately gone with me to buy everything and anything I could want or need, including a pet owl and enough pocket money to fund my own shop. I’d even read through my textbooks, or at least skimmed them, to prepare myself for the start of my magical career. 

Alas, none of that preparation could have even begun to get me ready for whatever the heck I was in for once I actually arrived at hogwarts. If someone on that platform had walked up to me and told me...I think I would have run back into the muggle world screaming. But, there was no fortune telling man wandering about, and I was happily loaded onto the train, waving at my parents. 

I joined the bustling kids who were racing to find open compartments with their friends, hoping I’d either find someone I knew or someone would pull me into their compartment or something. 

I tried to keep from panicking, shifting my eyes along compartments as I passed. 

The train itself had a nice atmosphere about it. The lights were warm, not too blindingly bright. The air buzzed with magic and conversation, returning and new students mingling in the aisles and in the compartments. The issue, however, was that I was supposed to be meeting Sam, my aforementioned friend. She and I had been friends for years, hardly a relationship to scoff at really. We’d been preparing ourselves and each other for this day forever. We’d had plans to meet outside the platform but I guess she either forgot or something. Maybe her parents didn’t want her standing around the muggles, they didn’t like normal folk too much. 

The important thing was that I couldn’t find her. 

It’s not like Sam is particularly easy to miss, either. Just a few days ago she and I had invested in some super potent permanent hair serum that was meant to let your change hair color at the flick of a wand. She had opted for a very bright blue that was, as stated, incredibly hard to miss. And Sam herself just had a loud personality, and a rather loud voice. So I shouldn’t have had any issues spotting her whatsoever. It should have been as easy as sparing a glance across the crowd. Had I been thinking straight, I probably would have found her, snickering with one of our shared friends in a compartment.

But my panic got the better of me. Instead of thinking rationally, my brain ran wild with ideas and posssibilities. What if she’d been kidnapped and hurt? What if I didn’t get here fast enough and her compartment was already full? What if she decided that we weren’t friends anymore and just didn’t want to come to Hogwarts? I ran through the quickly emptying halls, attempting to find her, bumping into much taller and angrier looking kids as I went. Each time I failed to spot her, my brain filled with more ludicrous ideas. She was obviously with the conductor, she was obviously in charge of the whole train, right? Right!? I ran towards the back. No luck. She showed no signs of even boarding the train. No, no no no. This couldn’t be happening. Someone was playing a cruel joke, she got her hands on the famed Invisibility Cloak and was hiding in one of the compartments, snickering at me for being a fool. I wouldn’t put it past her, honestly. 

“Sam!” 

Crap. Maybe shouting on this stupid train wasn’t the best idea in the world. Kids turned and looked at me, blinking. A few laughed and pointed while others shared vaguely concerned looks. I’m sure they’d seen me running like a lunatic before...The train jolts forwards with no preamble, sending me tumbling backwards while more experienced riders hold onto handles or doors, keeping their footing and staying upright. My back collides with one of the kids who snickered at me, his hand crossing over my stomach to keep me secure.

“Woah, kiddo. Watch your step.” His voice is low, and he’s still laughing, which creeps me out because more than I can hear it, I can feel it. 

The panic kinda just takes over. I send my elbow back into the guy’s chest, my whole body pushing off of him to rocket forwards, breaking through the barrier of his arm with ease.

“Back off!” My voice is shrill, high with fear. The guy is clutching his rib, hunched over some, panting. He glares up at me through locks of blonde hair. He looks like he wants to kill me, oh god! “A-And don’t call me kiddo!” NIco touch, Jeremiah. Just make him hate you even more! 

“Jesus, dude, I was just trying to help!” His voice is much deeper than mine. He’s obviously older- I’d guess fifteen at most - and he’s loud. He draws the attention of those behind closed doors who curiously stick their heads out to see the commotion. People around us stop walking, giving us a wide berth instead. A ring begins to form around the two of us, like we’re going to fight or something. The other guy glances around. “I was just trying to be nice.” 

“W-Well don’t.” I hold my elbow, trying not to look like it hurt. It was starting to ache a little bit from the force of the blow. “I don’t need help!” 

“You’re running around like a freaking headless chicken. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you oaf!” He straightens out, still massaging the spot I elbowed. Good, at least I hurt him...Fear crawls up my throat, choking out the words I had prepared. He’s going to beat me up, I could already tell. Maybe hurting him wasn’t good. His eyes are sparkling with anger, his face is red. “God, kids these days. No damn respect for their elders.” There's some sort of playful twinkle in his eyes. What? He grins to himself like he made a funny joke, straightening himself out some more.

Kids around us burst into laughter, which throws me for a real loop. The guy blushes, this time not out of pain or anger, and huffs, glaring down at his feet. I try to make myself as small as possible, panting for air, hunched all in like I’m collapsing. It was getting kinda hard to breathe, there were too many people around, I couldn’t get enough air. Maybe I would actually collapse. 

“Uh...kid…?” 

People back up even further. The floor is spinning closer to my vision, the whole train feels like it’s closing in on me. I can’t breathe, I can’t even see straight. Where is Sam, why isn’t she on this stupid thing!? People, too close, the walls are closing in, I can’t breathe, I can’t think. I stumble a little bit forwards, clawing my throat. I can’t get air in. Everything’s closing in and I can’t make it stop. 

“Kid, breathe, you’re turning red!” 

Hands, on my back and arms, trying to pull me away, into a quieter place. My blood roars in my ears, I can’t really hear anybody talking anymore. It’s the same guy I elbowed, dragging me towards the front of the train, breaking through the crowd. Spots of black dance across my vision. What’s he doing? Why won’t he let me go? Where are we going? 

I spot a red cross on a white wall. It clicks in my mind. He’s trying to help me, for some reason. Through the panic attack even I can recognize that. I don’t know why, I elbowed him and yelled at him...maybe he was gonna throw me off the train. Maybe he was going to tell the conductor of the train to toss me into the fuel room, I’d heard rumors of that happening to the bad kids.

More people come into my line of sight. Older people. People dressed in white, holding their hands out to receive me like I’m a baby that needs to be handled. 

I’m pushed into the arms of an older women who cradles me to her chest, reaffirming that feeling of being a baby. I kinda feel like one, honestly, my eyes watering like I’m going to cry. Probably because I wasn’t breathing. How was I still not breathing? Someone shoves me onto a bed moments before I lose consciousness. 

I could have sworn I heard someone shouting my name...


End file.
